The One With Finn's Wedding
by katiebouvier
Summary: Inspired by the Friends episode, "The One With Ross's Wedding," but with my own spin to it. I also wrote this while listening to "Speak Now" by Taylor Swift because it reminded me of the story. So I did incorporate some things that she mentions in the song.


"_Are you sure you can't come?"_

Rachel was in her New York apartment reading over the script for the Broadway play revival of _Rent_ that she would be starring in when Kurt called. Kurt also lives in the apartment with Rachel, but left to go back to Lima two days prior for his step-brothers wedding. He was the best man.

"Kurt, if I were able to go I would've left with you." She sighed as she flipped to the next page of the script.

"_But Finn really wants you to be here! You're his _best friend_, Rachel. He wouldn't have invited you otherwise."_

Rachel bit her lip. "I just have a lot to take care of right now, Kurt. I told both you and Finn this. _Rent_ will be opening soon and I can't miss re-"

"_Oh, please. You know the entire thing by heart. When are you going to admit that you're still in love with Finn and _that's_ why you're not in Ohio right now?"_

She gasped. "Kurt! How dare you make such accusations! If I could be there for Finn, I most definitely would be."

"_Of course you would be there,"_ Kurt paused and Rachel went to speak, but he continued, _"if it were the other way around and you were the bride, not the guest."_

Rachel stopped. And she knew what Kurt said was true. But why should she admit that she still loves him when it no longer matters? Nothing could come of her one-sided feelings, so what's the point? She'll never be Finn's bride.

"_Don't lie to me, Rachel. I've known you way too long to not know that you still love him."_

And that's when she broke. "I just don't get it, Kurt," she cried, "he dated Quinn twice and neither time ended well! What makes him think a third shot plus marriage would change everything? He's never been happy with her, I was always there to pick up the pieces." Rachel wiped the tears that began to fall. Would she always be second best to Quinn?

"_I know, Rachel, I totally understand where you're coming from right now. But you know what?"_

"What?" She sniffled.

"_My amazing love radar is telling me he's settling."_

"He's what?" She almost whispered.

"_He's settling for Quinn. Just like he did the other times. He thinks he can't have you, so he's taking the easy way out and marrying Quinn. Even if she doesn't make him happy, and we know how that goes."_

"It's really hard for me to believe that, Kurt." She laid back on the couch. "I mean, we broke up two years ago. He's that one that suggested it's best that we stay friends, I-I doubt his feelings stuck." She shook her head.

"_Yours did." _

Rachel paused, closing her eyes and trying to stop her tears, "look, Kurt, I need to go. I'm sorry."

_Kurt sighed, "don't apologize to me. You need to talk to Finn, you can expect a call from him later. And please, Rachel, really think about flying out here. Him actually _seeing_ you may change everything."_

She hung up the phone.

* * *

Kurt's words were ringing in her mind all day long. She finally admitted that she still loved him after two years, but she still stood by what she said. What do her feelings matter anymore? Finn made his decision, and who is she to interfere with that? So what if she's miserable for the rest of her life? As long as she knows Finn's happy with Quinn, she might be able to move on. She couldn't ruin his happiness.

But what if Kurt was right? What if Finn isn't happy and is only settling for Quinn? She wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing she let him do this. After all Quinn's done to him, and thinking about what she may do in the future, this marriage could potentially ruin his life.

Rachel opened her apartment door with bags of groceries in her hands only to hear her phone ringing. She quickly placed the bags on the counter and answered the phone, "hello?"

"_Rachel, hey!"_

Her heart dropped as soon as she heard his voice. "Hi, Finn. Kurt told me I should expect a call from you." She sat down at the kitchen table, holding off putting the groceries away until she got off the phone.

"_Well, yeah. I mean, we haven't talked in a few days, and, I, uh, just thought I'd call and say what's up." He paused. "So, what's up?"_

She gave a small laugh, "I just got home from getting groceries."

"_Sounds like fun!"_

"Bundles. What's up with you?" She knew she shouldn't have asked that question. Of course she knew what was up with him. It's the exact thing she's trying her hardest to avoid.

"_Oh, just wedding stuff. You know."_

"Of course."

He let out a heavy breath. _"Look, Rach, I really want you to come to the wedding."_

She closed her eyes tight. "I wish I could, Finn, but I told you, I-"

"_I know, I know. You have rehearsals for _Rent_. And I am so, _so_, proud of you. You know that, right? I always knew you could do it. But, Rach, I _need _my best friend at my wedding. I _need_ you there, and that's all I really want. Can you please, _please_ come?" _He sounded so desperate. She really wanted to give into him, but she knew she couldn't. For her own sanity, she couldn't.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. You know I would go if I could, but I just don't think I can." She could feel herself start to tear up, but she knew she couldn't let Finn hear her cry.

"_I'm marrying the woman I love, Rach."_ She squeezed her eyes harder to stop the tears. _"And I of all people know how much you love Broadway and I know it's your true home, but, Rachel, are you really going to not come to my wedding? Your best friend's wedding? It's only rehearsal, you can miss one day, can't you?"_

He loves her. _He loves Quinn. _Hearing him say that, she knows she can't show up at that wedding. Kurt was wrong.

"I'm sorry. I can't, Finn." She whispered.

"_Thanks, Rachel. Let me know how _Rent_ goes._" And he hung up the phone. She upset him. She never meant to upset him. She just can't witness the man she loves get married to another woman.

She sighed, still holding in her tears, and put the phone on its charger. She has to get her mind off him. So she started putting the groceries away, she figured that's mind numbing enough.

* * *

The next day, Rachel found herself cleaning. The only way she was able to get her mind off Finn was if she was being productive. She baked (which was a bad idea on her part since the banana bread just made her think of Finn even more), she read, she went to the gym, and now, cleaning her apartment. There wasn't much to clean, really, since Kurt always makes sure there isn't a speck of dirt anywhere. But anything to keep her occupied.

Cleaning was successful with taking her mind off Finn. She organized the clothes in her closet in color order (which she never really does, but Kurt would be proud of her, she thinks), she made her bed and put everything that was out back in its place. It was when she was vacuuming her carpet that things took a sudden turn.

She moved the vacuum under the bed and it hit something with a thud. She turned off the vacuum and looked under the bed – it was a box. She pulled the box out, it wasn't labeled, so she opened it to find out what it was. The first thing she saw was her McKinley High Senior Yearbook. She made a delighted squeal, grabbing the box and putting it on her bed as she laid down to look through her yearbook. As she turned each page, she found herself missing her friends from high school, and how much happier she was back then. Of course, because of Finn. Just as she thought that, the next page was a picture of them with the title, "_Cutest Couple._" It was a picture of them from the Valentines Day dance that Sugar held at Breadstix. They had their arms wrapped tight around each other with grins on each of their faces.

She smiled, but closed the book and placed it next to her. She pulled the box closer to her to see what else was in it, and she found more pictures of her and Finn. She forgot she put them all in there when they had broken up. So much for forgetting Finn, she thought. She shuffled through the pictures, and found one she wasn't sure she wanted to see. It was from when they almost got married all those years ago. The picture has her in her dress holding her bouquet, and Finn in his tux smiling down at her, while she was smiling at the camera. She could feel herself start to cry. She's been doing that a lot over the past few days, she realized.

He did love her. He wouldn't have proposed to her if he didn't. He wouldn't have almost _married_ her if he didn't. But does that mean he still feels that way? It has to. There's no way you can love someone so much that you want to marry them, and then just make those feelings disappear. If she still loves him just as much, he must as well.

Rachel sat there staring at the picture until she made her decision. The wedding's tomorrow morning, she can make it in time. She hurried to the living room and grabbed her cellphone that was sitting on the coffee table. It rang three times before he answered.

"Kurt?"

"_Rachel? Wha-"_

"I'm coming."

* * *

She managed to get a flight to Ohio on such short notice. Unfortunately, it was the first one out the next morning at eight. The flight's an hour and a half, so without delays, she'd get there at nine-thirty. Which gave her an hour and a half before the wedding. While she was waiting for her flight to be called the next day, she called Kurt.

"_Kurt Hummel."_

"I shouldn't be so shocked that I didn't wake you up."

"_Well if it isn't miss diva. Of course I'm awake, I'm the only organized person in this wedding. I have to make sure everything runs smoothly." _Rachel stayed quiet at that. If she confessed her love to Finn, everything wouldn't be running smoothly.

Her silence made him realize what he had said._"Oh, no. Rachel, that's not what I meant."_

Rachel sighed. "It's okay, Kurt. I know what you meant." Rachel paused again. "I'm doing the right thing, Kurt, aren't I?"

"_Rachel, I, more than anyone, fully support you being at this wedding...oh! It's like that one Taylor Swift song!"_ She could tell he was getting excited about this all over again.

She rolled her eyes, "I really hope you're in private."

"_Oh, don't worry, I'm the only one awake at seven-thirty in the morning. Well, Quinn probably is, but she's not here. And if it were up to Finn, he wouldn't wake up until an hour before the ceremony."_ She laughed at that. _"So, tell me, why the change of heart?"_

She sighed again. "I don't know. I just – I was cleaning and the vacuum hit a box, so I looked in it, and it was full of pictures of Finn and I that I forgot I had." She could hear Kurt make a small 'aww' sound and she smiled. "It just made me realize how in love we were. I mean, Finn and I had almost gotten married at one point, Kurt." Thinking about that, she laughed.

"_Sorry, I'm missing the joke."_

"No, no," she kept giggling, "I was just thinking of when Finn and I almost got married and you were _so_ against it! Now look! You want me to be the one at the alter."

Kurt scoffed, _"you were eighteen! It's much different now. And you and I both know, and even Finn knows, that you're a better catch than Quinn."_

She smiled a bit and then frowned. "You're his brother, Kurt. You saw how unhappy he was those times he dated Quinn. Even he noticed it then. Was it any different now?"

"_He definitely puts on a better show than he used to,"_ Kurt sighed, _"but I'm still positive he's only with her because he thinks he can't have you."_

"So what do I do? Do I talk to him before the wedding? Do I object? Or-"

Kurt cut her off, _"just be there."_

"I _am_ going to be there, Kurt. What do you mean?" She replied, confused.

"_I _mean_, once he sees you in the pews, everything will fall into place."_

"I don't care what you think or say, Kurt. You're not psychic."

"_Just trust me on this one!" _

"**Flight number 511 to Ohio, now boarding."**

"Okay, I'll trust you. I have to go, though, Kurt. I'll see you in a couple hours."

"_Looking forward to it!"_

And with that, she made her way toward the gate.

* * *

The plane landed on Ohio soil ten minutes earlier than expected, which gave Rachel extra time to grab her bag and meet Kurt at the Hummel house to get ready. Their house was about a twenty minute drive from the airport. She just couldn't believe she was there. She told herself she wouldn't step foot at that wedding but look at her now. About to tell the groom she loves him. She hailed a cab and texted Kurt that she was on her way. When the cab reached the house, she paid the driver, grabbed her bags from the trunk and walked up to the door.

Before she could ring the bell, the door opened and Kurt dragged her inside to his bedroom, pulled her bag onto his bed and rummaged through it.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "nice to see you, too, Kurt."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't have time for that." He threw all of the contents of her luggage onto his bed, "you didn't bring much for me to work with. We have an hour until the wedding begins!"

"Well, _sorry,_ I didn't expect this to be a long stay. I picked out what I thought was a nice dress from my closet. But what's nice to me is usually taboo to you."

"Ha, ha, ha. It'll have to do." He picked up the dress and threw it in her hands. "Dress quickly. We need to do your hair, make-up, and jewelry."

"Yes, boss." She huffed and walked into his bathroom to change into the dress. She really did like it. It was a black, sparkly dress with one strap that went down a little past her knees and hugged her figure well. When she was finished putting it on, she stepped back into Kurt's bedroom.

"Not bad." He gave an appreciative nod as he looked at her and then turned to his bed shuffling through the make-up she brought. "We're gonna go with the shadow eye look. It'll match your dress well enough."

She nodded. "I can do my own make-up, you know."

Kurt groaned, "we don't have time for that, now sit!" When he finished her make-up, he curled her hair loose so it flowed down to her shoulders.

"Okay, we're done with that, can I at least put on my own jewelry?"

"Yes, yes, put on your heels, too, we have ten minutes before we need to leave."

Rachel put on her jewelry and she barely had her heels on before Kurt dragged her out of the house and into his car.

"They're not going to be wondering where I was. I told Finn I forgot something at home."

"Okay, but what about me? When should I enter?" She was starting to get nervous. She couldn't back down now, though. She knew she had to do this.

"I'll go in first. You get out of the car with me and wait outside the doors. I'll text you when you should come in."

She let out a breath of air. "Okay."

Kurt looked over quickly at her and smiled. "You can do this, Rachel. No matter what you think, you're doing the right thing." She tried to smile back.

When they reached the church, they followed what Kurt had planned. Kurt went inside to fulfill his best man duties while Rachel waited outside for his go ahead. Now she really was nervous. She knew what she was doing, but was it really the right thing to do? No matter how horrible Quinn has been to her, should she really ruin her wedding day? She felt her phone vibrate, Kurt was texting her to come in. She needed to do this, she couldn't back down.

She opened the church doors and was immediately overwhelmed with all the wedding decorations. What was she thinking? This was _Quinn_. And it was her _wedding day_, of all things. Of course she made everything huge. Rachel continued to walk into the church and stopped abruptly at a closed door when she heard a woman yelling, "do _not_ mess this up for me!" It was Quinn, she could tell. Who she was yelling at, she assumed, were her bridesmaids. She shook her head and continued into the church.

Hesitantly, she walked over to the very last pew, closest to the exit. But before she sat down, she looked up at the alter and saw Finn looking at her. He had a big smile on his face, and she was suddenly reminded of what was supposed to be their wedding day. When he first saw her in her dress. And then she remembered, Quinn hadn't wanted her to get married then, either. Was it because she knew she'd end up having Finn marry her? She suddenly didn't feel bad about this anymore, she just hoped Kurt was right. With teary eyes, she gave Finn a small smile and a wave back and sat down at the very end of the pew.

And just as she sat down, the bridesmaids started to enter. _Oh God. _She gave Kurt a look and then turned her head to watch the were dressed in beautiful light purple gowns. Rachel noticed that Quinn didn't have many bridesmaids, and none of them were from McKinley. She's not surprised. The bridesmaids finished their walk and the organs began to play as Quinn entered. She looked beautiful in her traditional white wedding gown, floating down the aisle like a pageant queen. Rachel knew she'd never be as beautiful as Quinn. But she also knew that she'd be the only one to hold Finn's heart. Quinn may be flawless on the outside, but Rachel especially knew how flawed she was on the inside. As Quinn continued down the aisle, Rachel found herself thinking that this seemed like a death march more than anything.

Quinn reached the alter, and everyone sat down. And Finn – Finn was looking at Quinn like she was the greatest thing in the world. If she was being honest, that kind of broke her heart a bit. The priest was talking, but Rachel had zoned out. She could only think of when her and Finn talked of marriage, she could only think of _their_ wedding day, and what their lives would be like as a married couple. And with all her thinking, she almost missed the important part.

"Finn, repeat after me," the priest started, "I, Finn," Rachel's heart started to beat rapidly, she frantically looked at Kurt, but he didn't look worried at all. Why wasn't he worried? He was about to marry Quinn! This wasn't why she came here!

"I, Finn," he repeated. Oh, God. She can't do this. She can't watch this. She _had_ to do something!

"Take thee, Quinn," she thinks she's going to throw up.

"Take thee, Rachel," and just like that, she's gasping and covering her mouth with her hand, along with the many others in attendance.

"_Oh, my God..._" She muttered. She looked at Kurt, and saw him wink. But how did he know something like this would happen? She can't believe this. He did not just say her name. Loud, confused chatter could be heard throughout the church and Rachel was pretty sure she knew what they were thinking.

Finn look confused, himself, "I – I mean – I mean Quinn. I – I, Finn, take thee, Quinn."

And Quinn just looked mortified, and the priest, shocked. Quinn was angry, you could tell. But she covered it up with a smile and pulled Finn close to her and whispered so no one but them could hear. After that, Finn just looked confused and upset. "Let's try that again," Quinn smiled at the priest and gave Finn a hard look.

Rachel didn't know what was going on. Should she do something? Should she say something? She's pretty much the most hated person at the wedding right now. There's not much else she can do to make it worse, right?

"I can't." She heard Finn say, and here eyes never left his form. This was _not_ happening.

Quinn wasn't as upset as she was angry. "I'm sorry, say that again?"

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I can't marry you." Rachel gasped again. Finn leaned down to kiss her cheek, but Quinn just shoved him away and trudged back down the aisle. She stopped suddenly at the end, surprised to see Rachel, and stopped right in front of her. "This is all your fault! Why the hell are you even here?! Ugh!" She screamed, aggravated and stormed out of the church, her mother running slowly after her, making sure not to trip over her new hundred dollar heels.

Rachel, now very upset, looked up at the alter at Finn only to see him looking at her with an unreadable expression. He looked away and walked back down the aisle as well, but unlike Quinn, walked right past Rachel.

* * *

Rachel was standing outside the church looking around at all the guests for someone she knew. Everyone here, at least on Quinn's side, officially hated her now. They now knew who this Rachel girl was and didn't like that she attended the wedding. She was about to text Kurt and ask him where the hell he was when someone approached her.

"Oh, Rachel, it's so good to see you, you look gorgeous!" She looked up and saw Finn's mother, Carole.

She smiled and hugged her. "Hi, Carole, thank you, it's so good to see you too! How are you doing?"

"Oh, honey, we're fine. Burt's still inside getting what he can from the snack table. Kurt's probably in there with him telling him to stop," she laughed. "How are you?"

Rachel smiled and sighed, "I'm alright, considering everyone here is giving me the evil eye."

"Don't worry about them, Rachel, you did nothing wrong. Finn just showed today who he truly loves. That boy always had bad timing." Carole joked.

Rachel looked thoughtful. "You really think he still loves me?"

"Of course he does! He's never loved anyone more. He still talks about you a lot. He says it's because you're his best friend and he's proud of you, but we all know it's because he's in love with you and proud of you," Carole paused and Rachel was hanging on every word she was saying. "You know, he was really upset when you weren't coming. You probably knew that, but we got to witness it. And the way he reacted, Rachel, it wasn't because you weren't going to be at his wedding. It was because he missed you and wouldn't get to see you." Rachel nodded and hugged Carole again, "thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me. Go make my son happy again." Rachel smiled and started to walk away.

"Rachel!" She turned and saw Kurt running up to her.

"Kurt! I'm beginning to think you _are_ psychic! How did you know?"

"I didn't know. I was panicking like crazy, I just tried to hide it." Kurt shrugged.

Rachel gasped and slapped him on the arm, "Kurt! What if they had actually gotten married?!"

"Is that how you treat the person that's been helping you?" Kurt glared at her and rubbed his arm. "I was hoping that wouldn't happen." He replied to her.

Rachel groaned. "If you had just let me object to the marriage you wouldn't have had to worry!"

"Rachel, you know as well as I do that you wouldn't have had the guts to stand up and do that," Rachel huffed and crossed her arms. "But this whole thing is over now and Finn isn't married. We were successful in stopping this wedding, and since he said _your_ name, I think you of all people know this."

"We did nothing, Kurt." Rachel rolled her eyes. "What do I do now, though? I just spoke to Carole and she said to make Finn happy, but do I go to him now? Wouldn't he be heartbroken over this? I mean, I can't just go over to him now and be like 'yeah, hey, sorry about your wedding and all but you said my name in your vows and that obviously means something so let's get back together.'"

"Or maybe you can."

"Kurt!"

"Stop being a drama queen, Rachel, and just go to his apartment. It's that simple."

"I really think we should give him some time-" Kurt groaned, grabbed Rachel's wrist, and dragged her to his car.

* * *

Kurt drove her to Finn's apartment building and when she got out, he drove off, leaving her there. Only leaving her with his apartment number. It's like he _expected_ everything to go well and for Finn to just ask for her back immediately. Rachel has learned to have low expectations for that sort of thing. She knew that wouldn't happen. But she _did_ know that Finn saying her name in his vows when he was marrying another woman had to mean _something_.

She took the elevator to the 8th floor and when she stepped out, walked down the hall to apartment number 815. She took a deep breath in, sighed heavily and knocked on the door four times. She waited a bit, but didn't hear any movement on the other side of the door.

"Finn?" She called through the door. She knocked again, once again with no answer. She turned the door knob, just to see if it was unlocked and luckily for her and Finn's forgetfulness, it was. She stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind her.

"Finn?" She called out again. She looked around his apartment and it was a mess. Like a tornado went through it. Things were knocked over, some were broken, there was just stuff everywhere. _'He must have come home and took his anger out on his furniture. Wait. He's angry?' _She thought, and she stopped suddenly. Why was he angry? Was he angry at _her_? No, why would he be? He's the one that insisted she come to his wedding. She did nothing wrong here.

She continued walking through the apartment until she came to an open door where she found Finn laying on his bed, face down.

She gave two gentle knocks on his door. "Finn? Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely concerned, and stepped further into the bedroom.

"Go away." He grunted out.

"Finn, I just-"

He groaned and sat up on the bed and looked at Rachel. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

"Finn-"

"No, Rachel," he cut her off again, "I don't want to see anyone right now. I don't want to talk to anyone right now. Especially you."

Rachel's mouth dropped. "Me?" She asked, shocked. "I did nothing wrong here, Finn Hudson!"

Finn shook his head. "I should've never asked you to come," he muttered. "You know, Quinn didn't even want me to invite you? Yeah, she didn't want me talking to you anymore, either. And I told her I couldn't do that because, you know, you're my best friend." Finn paused and after a moment said, "maybe I should've listened to her."

Rachel shook her head and sat down next to him on the bed. "Finn, you don't mean that." She went to place her hand on his but he pulled away.

"No. No, I do mean it, Rachel. If I hadn't invited you, you wouldn't have come, and I wouldn't be in this fucked up situation right now."

"Do not blame your failed marriage on me, Finn! I did _nothing_ but what you asked me to do!"

"Then what's the real reason you're here, Rachel? Huh?" Finn stood up and walked to the other side of the room. "You told me you had rehearsals. That you couldn't leave the city because it was _so close_ to opening day. Why the sudden change, Rachel? Why, _suddenly_, were you able to attend my wedding?"

She could tell how angry he was. Finn never gave her this tone. Ever. "I just, I wanted to be here for my best friend..." She said quietly.

"Oh, bullshit, Rachel!" He ran a hand through his hair. "You don't think I realized Kurt always leaving the room whenever I was around when you called? You think I didn't realize my best man suddenly leave the church on my wedding day because he _'forgot something at home'_? What could he have forgotten, Rachel? Nothing. And I know that because he helped plan the wedding. He kept track of _everything!_"

Rachel stood up then, too. "Are – are you accusing Kurt and I of planning to _destroy_ your wedding?"

"Kinda, yeah!"

"How dare you? You saw us there, Finn! Kurt was standing right next to you and you saw me sitting in a pew. What the hell do you think I could've done? Trip her while she was walking down the aisle?"

"You were up to something. I know you two well enough to know when you're definitely up to something."

"We did _nothing_, Finn! Nothing! I wish you would just stop blaming your failed marriage on _us_, when you _should_ be focusing on the two people involved. Ever think that things weren't working out with Quinn? Hell, it didn't work out the last two times, why would it this time? You said my name, Finn. That's the only thing that happened at that wedding that involved me and I didn't even cause it."

Finn scoffed. "Are you trying to tell me that you think I'm still in love with you? Did Kurt convince you of this?" He shook his head. "My relationship with Quinn was going just fine. I love her. It was a mistake, Rachel. A simple mistake, a slip of the tongue. You surprised me by coming to the wedding, and I was happy that my best friend was there. My mind must've partially still been on you being there and I accidentally said your name. That's all."

Rachel swallowed down her tears. "Well, if that's all, then why aren't you married to her right now?"

"I wasn't going to embarrass her like that. I wasn't going to marry her after saying another woman's name. I corrected myself up there, but that wasn't enough. She deserves her wedding to go perfectly."

"And what about what you deserve, Finn?" Her voice cracked. "Don't you think you deserve some happiness in your life?" She asked.

"Quinn made me happy." Rachel could tell he was unsure.

"Do you expect me to believe that, Finn? After all the crap she's put you through, you really expect me to believe that? Don't give your life to the wrong person, Finn. Don't just settle."

"Yeah, I do. Because, you know, best friends are supposed to believe in and trust each other!" He ignored her last comment.

"I do believe in you, Finn! You _know_ I believe in you, I've _always_ supported you! And that's _exactly_ why I wasn't going to come today. You were right, Finn. I lied to you about why I wasn't coming. But the only reason why I wasn't planning on being here was because I couldn't _stand_ to see you throw your life away on a girl who doesn't love you and only wants to be able to say that she's married." Rachel didn't bother hiding it anymore, she started to cry. "I love you, Finn. I will always love you. And I know I made you truly happy. I just wish you wouldn't hide your feelings from me."

She wished she knew what he was feeling, what he was _thinking_. She couldn't stand being there with him not saying anything and just standing there, staring at her. So she nodded. "I think I should go." She walked out of his bedroom, stopped and turned around, leaning on his doorframe. "The other times you dated Quinn, I was always there for you when you realized who she really was. I don't know what's made you forget again this time, but if you decide to stay with her, don't expect me to be there when you figure it out."

Finn's face was unreadable as she pushed herself off the doorframe and stormed out of his apartment in the infamous Rachel Berry fashion, slamming his door shut.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the wedding debacle and Rachel had just gotten home from her last _Rent_ rehearsal, and was now sitting on the couch watching _Funny Girl_ with Kurt. Rachel hasn't heard from Finn at all. She never expected to, but that doesn't stop her from feeling disappointed. Kurt says he hasn't heard from Finn either, but something makes her not believe him. She knows he's hiding something. Maybe Finn and Quinn eloped. That way no one could be there to interrupt, not like Rachel _physically_ did anything, but, supposedly, she was the problem. She asked Kurt last week if he thought they would think of doing that. He said that Finn was too much of a mama's boy to go through with it, he knew Carole would kill him.

For the past two weeks Rachel has been thinking of every scenario possible, making her jump to every single conclusion, and annoying Kurt with all her crazy assumptions. So now, they're calmly sitting down and watching her favorite movie so Rachel can put her mind to rest. But how can she put her mind to rest when she's watched this movie with Finn dozens of times?

It surprised them both when there was a loud knock at their door. "I'll get it," Rachel said. Anything to keep her mind busy on anything but Finn.

She got up and walked to door and slid it open. She looked up at the person standing in front of her, and was shocked, to say the least, to see the person causing her troubled thoughts.

She pulled her eyebrows together. "Finn? What are you doing here?"

"You know," he started and stepped into the apartment. "These past two weeks, I've really been thinking. About my relationship with _you_, about my relationship with _Quinn_,"

Kurt looked up with wide eyes and paused the movie. "Uh, yeah. I'll just go." He got up, grabbed his jacket and pretty much ran out of the apartment.

"And I was thinking about _why_ exactly I couldn't listen to Quinn when she told me she didn't want me speaking to you anymore."

"Finn-"

"No, Rachel. Listen to me." He walked closer to her. "I tried so hard to picture my life without you. And I couldn't. At first, I figured it was because you were my best friend, I'm not supposed to live without you. It took me these two weeks, after we argued, to realize the reason I can't picture my life without you is because you _are_ my life."

Rachel nodded as her eyes started to burn. "I see. Did Quinn turn you down? Is that why you're here, saying these things to me?"

"No! That's not it at all, Rachel. I _love_ you."

"And why should I believe you?" She crossed her arms.

"Because you were right all along! And I was _so_, so, stupid to not have admitted it to myself and to you." He uncrossed her arms and held her hands in his. "I remember just watching Quinn walk down the aisle in her dress and remembering you when I first saw you in yours on our wedding day. And, Rachel, I was wishing so hard that she was you.

"Do you know what Quinn told me up on the alter when I said your name? She told me that she could deal with me still loving you and to not screw up her wedding for her." He swallowed. "You were right. What you said to me in my apartment, you were right. In that moment on the alter I realized I did still love you. And I was just settling. That's why I didn't marry her, not the crap I fed you in my apartment. I hate that it took me my wedding day with another woman to realize that I am so in love with you, Rachel." He squeezed her hands. "And I always will be."

Rachel looked down at their hands and shook her head. "But what about what you said? You said you loved her and she deserves a perfect wedding."

"I thought I loved her. And she does deserve a perfect wedding. Just with someone who's not me." Rachel looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth, but she looked away.

"I believe you, Finn." She took her hands out of his. "You know I love you, too, but, what if you hurt me again? What if Quinn comes back into the picture?"

"Rachel, there's only one girl that I want to spend the rest of my life with. And that's you. I love you, and I never, ever, want to hurt you again. Quinn has _nothing_ on you. You have nothing to worry about."

"Really?" She asked shyly.

"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die." He smiled, causing her to smile back and she ran into his arms, hugging him.

"I love you so much." She cried into his shoulder.

"I love you, too." He took her face in his hands and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck playing with his hair and smiled into the kiss. A kiss that they both needed after two years of pretending. And they were each other's. Faithfully.


End file.
